Anomaly
Anomalies are portals in time that form links between eras throughout all of history. This idea comes from the wormhole theory in relativity. They have opened numerous times in numerous locations. While almost everyone who knows of them including Nick Cutter, the rest of the ARC, and Helen Cutter refer to them as anomalies, members of the nomadic Time Tribe such as Ethan Dobrowski and Emily Merchant, simply call them Gateways. (Episode 4.3) Ancient Egyptians called it a "Second sun". (Episode 3.1 ) Attributes Properties Nick Cutter describes them being somewhat like an earthquake in time which occur along temporal fault lines. They resemble glowing shattered pieces of glass floating in mid-air, through which people, animals and objects can travel. It is guessed that this could be a 'fracture' in the time continuum. It is also shown in Episode 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.4 and 5.2 that atmospheric gases and liquid can also pass through. The anomalies are highly magnetic, they can draw ferrous objects — for example keys, and pens — into them, they also render compasses useless near them. Connor Temple proved this multiple times by throwing metal objects into the anomalies (once accidentally throwing his front door key into the first one that was found). However it is shown in Episode 1.4 that the magnetic field is not strong enough to penetrate through the metal of a stainless steel fridge door. The anomalies also produce radio interference on the frequency 87.6FM as demonstrated by the shopping center anomaly, this allows a means of detecting them. (Episode 2.1) The anomalies can open in any setting. They can open in small spaces such as a fridge (Episode 1.4) and can open through obstacles such as floors (Episode 3.3). They can open underwater (Episode 1.3) and several metres above the ground. (Episode 1.5) It is also possible to enter only partway into an anomaly without being sucked in, for example a person can take a look through an anomaly simply by poking their face through without travelling all the way through. (Episode 1.1) They can cut across distance as well as time, as creatures which were never native to Great Britain, nor the area which Britain has passed through in its geological past, have passed through the anomalies into modern Britain. For example the Dodo was only found on tropical islands around Mauritius, and Scutosaurus were located in Russia and parts of Europe. The strength of the anomalies weaken over time. They slowly lose their magnetic power, shrink in size, and eventually collapse in on themselves. Although they can be re-opened such as the Permian anomaly, which has closed and reopened at least three times, (Episode 1.1,Episode 1.6). When an anomaly closes, any object caught halfway through the anomaly will be severed, with each piece in a different time zone, as seen with the Dromaeosaurus which was decapitated. (Episode 2.1) However, in a different case, a human that was kneeling down near halfway, was pulled through to the other side of the anomaly. (Episode 3.5) As Helen Cutter once said that there are anomalies everywhere, some you just can't see. It is likely that the unseen anomalies are simply closed at the time. Meaning that anomalies could be present at almost everypoint on Earth throughout the entire timeline, just that they open relatively rarely. (Episode 3.9) It also appers that anything traveling through the Anomaly weakens it, as seen in many episodes, the most well known being Episode 1.5. Freak Anomalies The team have encountered several "freak anomalies". *An anomaly can either have a fixed location at both "ends" of the anomaly, in rare cases, one end may be unstable and thus move location, for example the present day end of one anomaly to a Cretaceous Beach moves from Lambeth Baths, Queen Mary Reservoir and Wakefield Road, though the past location of the anomaly was fixed. (Episode 1.3) This type of anomaly has only been seen twice (maybe three times). In the second case, an anomaly in a Silurian Desert linked to a Worksite in 2007 closed then reopened, with the present day end moving to the Lost World Adventure Park. (Episode 2.5) Something like that also happened also in abandoned house, where anomaly opened in different rooms. (Episode 3.2.) Also in Episode 2.1, the anomaly opened on the centre of the bowling alley, however when the Team got there it was in the locker room,. *Some anomalies also vary in size, standard anomalies are large enough to let a car through. One in a West London Hospital was only around half a metre tall, (Episode 3.3) while another in an Airport was large enough to let through a Giganotosaurus. (Episode 3.4) Another anomaly to the Cretaceous in the Russian Tundra was far far larger, this was caused by the K-T meteor (Extinction Event). One man-made anomaly was no taller than one or two feet (Episode 5.4, Episode 5.6), while another was about the size of a warehouse. (Episode 5.6) *There has been one instance of an anomaly which led to different locations, but they were both in the exact same time period. (Fire and Water). *In Series 3, an anomaly was located in Christine Johnson's headquarters, linked to the Future City. At the same time, another anomaly opened connecting a race track to a future cliff in the same time period. This is the only instance two anomalies have connected the same two time periods at the same time. This may be a sign that the anomalies are becoming more erratic. On exactly same place like Race Circuit (in Future City ) opened another anomaly which Helen Cutter used to escape before Predators. (Episode 3.1) *In Series 4, two anomalies leading to different time periods opened at exactly the same place. The energy created by this opened various satellite anomalies. Range in Time and Locations Although many anomalies lead outside Great Britain in prehistoric times. In the present, anomalies leading to other countries are rare. Though some occur as anomalies have led to Ancient Egypt (Episode 3.1), the Indian Ocean, (Episode 1.1), a Peruvian Jungle, (Shadow of the Jaguar) Guns Island off the coast of southern Ireland, (The Lost Island), Siberia (Extinction Event), a South African Safari Park. (Fire and Water) and many other Countries. (Episode 5.5) As the only human presence is on Earth, it is unknown whether anomalies are located anywhere else in the universe, though it's likely that anomalies may not be confined to just Earth, a single planet in the whole of space. Anomalies could be located in outer space and other planets or moons, although the fact that no known Earth anomalies have been known to link to a location off-planet may dispute this. There is a very unlikely but not impossible possibility that the Camouflage Beast is not from Earth, as it's home was never seen. (Episode 3.2) It seems that anomalies can be linked to any period in the earth's history. Anomalies have been shown leading from the Cretaceous to the Future, Eocene to Ancient Egypt and Victorian to Present etc. The earliest known anomaly is an anomaly that led to the Precambrian, in most likely it's third eon, the Proterozoic. (Episode 2.2) However Another anomaly that opened in an Infant School also led to the Precambrian, Although the atmosphere seemed much more dark and grey in colour than the atmosphere which came from the Previous Anomaly which was yellow like sulphur, This may indicate that one leads to an earlier stage in the Precambrian than the other. It seems likely that the latest known anomaly is the anomaly which led to the home of the Future Fungus, which is speculated to be 500 million years in the future. (Episode 3.5) Anomalies to the future may be rare, as Helen Cutter never mentioned one before Episode 1.6, evidenced by her assumption of where the Future Predator was from, and using the team and the infant Predators to try find the one in the Permian, and also that there have been far less anomalies leading to the future from the present than to prehistoric eras. Altering History It has been demonstrated that interference with the past can alter the future in unspecified ways. A major change has occured once. When Nick and Helen accidently left two baby Future Predators in the Permian, they altered history, possibly some sort of butterfly effect. (Episode 1.6) The new timeline seemed nearly the same as the original other than that Claudia Brown was replaced by Jenny Lewis and the anomaly branch of the Home Office was replaced by the ARC. (Episode 2.1) Nick believed that Helen was responsible although she denied it. (Episode 2.7) As Nick and Helen themselves remembered the original timeline, it seems likely that when history is changed, anyone or anything in the past is unaffected. For example, had Helen succeeded in killing the early hominids resulting in Humanity never existing, she herself would remain. (Episode 3.10) And should Matt Anderson prevent his future from happening, he himself will be unaffected. (Episode 4.7) Influence :Main article: Myths and Legends After discovering a Pristichampsus that emerged an anomaly contained in the Sun Cage, an artifact dating to Ancient Egypt, and after Sarah Page initally believed it to be an Egyptian demon, Nick Cutter realised that the Pristichampus had gone through the anomaly in Egyptian times and therefore they based Ammut on them. Cutter suggested that many more mythical creatures could have actually been creatures from different time periods, having came through anomalies. (Episode 3.1) Cutter encountered a Future Bird sometime earlier, it was reminiscent of the Incan god Pacha Kamaq, and made it's lair in the ruins of an Incan temple in the Peruvian Jungle. He later theorised to Lester the creature may have been seen later in history by the Incas and incorporated into their mythology. (Shadow of the Jaguar) Satellite Anomalies Its possible for 2 anomalies to open in the same place but due to the anomalies magnetic properties the energy expelled from the anomaly would create many smaller weaker satillte anomalies Each satellite anomaly would lead to the original anomaly and take you to 1 side of the anomaly The satellite anomalies are much too weak to get picked up by the Anomaly Detection Device What seems to be most interesting is that returning through the original anomaly would simply send you through a satellite one back into the same time period as the other satellites thus making it impossible to actually travel through the anomaly without getting sent to a satellite one In other words if you travel through the anomaly into a time period with satellite anomalies it would be impossible to return through until the 2 anomalies seperate or the satellites close Soon the magnets in the anomaly will become too strong pushing the other anomaly around 5 feet away from it The magnets would work by repelling and attracting the other anomaly towards each other with equal force making it stand in the same place until one force wins This force seems only occur as the anomalies become more frequent its unknown if theres satellite anomalies on the both sides of the anomalies These anomalies have a different appearance to standard anomalies there pale white and have a different effect when something comes through Instead of shards covering the object a simple white glow appears Because the Terror Bird mostly kept coming through the satellite anomalies its possible that whenever a satellite is open nothing arrives through the 2 fused anomalies but when theres no satellite anomalies they can come through it as demonstrated by Danny Quinn and the Terror Bird when the team 1st see it Man-made Anomalies Based on Philip's ideas and designs about New Dawn Connor created a machine able to create man made anomalies. But man made anomalies are artificial anomalies. Man made anomalies are stable, so they can't close on their own like natural anomalies, but rather need power to stay open. An exception to this rule is the New Dawn Anomaly. This anomaly was so big that it became independent of Philip's machine and began expanding. If two man made anomalies are merged, they will both de-stabilize and close. By reversing a man made anomaly's energy, the anomaly will not only collapse in on itself and close, but a massive gamma ray burst would be produced from it, though it is unknown if this has the same effect on ordinary anomalies.. Spaghetti Junction :Main article: Spaghetti Junction A Spaghetti Junction is a nickname given by Connor to an area in which dozens of anomalies appear, this has been shown to happen at least twice. (Episode 1.4,The Lost Island) Prediction and Control Helen Cutter Helen Cutter has claimed she knows the locations of the anomalies before they open and has hinted that she can control them. Yet the evidence she's provided for her claims has proved contradictory. After Nick first discovered the anomalies, Helen, who was presumed to be trapped in Permian era after having passed through an anomaly eight years ago. Was seen from a distance by Nick in the prsent after leaving him a living specimen of an Ammonite. (Episode 1.1) And she later appeared before Stephen Hart, giving him a message for Cutter. (Episode 1.2) It is revealed after she is tracked down by Nick that she was staying away because she did not want to reveal the secret of the anomalies to the world, something she knew Nick would be compelled to do. In the same episode she claims that she has the "the key to time". (Episode 1.3) She later tells Lester that she is aware of where the anomalies will open before they actually do. (Episode 1.4) However, when the Future Predator came through the Forest of Dean - Permian Hills Anomaly, she 'used' the team to find the Permian Hills Anomaly to the future, suggesting that she can't control them or locate them after all (although it is stated later in Series 2 that she was eventually able to reach the future via an anomaly). In the opening scene of Episode 2.2, one can briefly see a device in her bag that resembles the handheld anomaly trackers later made by Connor Temple. It seems likely that it is a radio used to track anomalies, as Ethan Dobrowski of the Time Tribe was shown to be using the same thing. (Episode 4.6) Helen has also been shown to be in possession of an Anomaly Opening Device. (Episode 3.9) It is unlikely that she had been using it as early as when she appeared to rescue Claudia Brown out of nowhere and later disappears, since the ARC didn't exist, and thus the device didn't exist in that future either. (Episode 1.5) Anomaly Detection During the Castle Cross Shopping Mall Nick Cutter found that the anomalies caused radio interference on the 87.6 FM wavelength. (Episode 2.1) He passed this knowledge on to Connor Temple, who soon created the Anomaly Detection Device. (Episode 2.3) This new equipment allows the ARC to track any new anomalies within seconds of them opening. Connor also created handheld anomaly trackers to be used by the team in the field. He also mentions he is working on making them more compact. Both these devices show great accuracy; allowing the ARC to track the anomalies much more efficiently. As already mentioned, the Time Tribe used a similar way to track anomalies via the use of a wind-up radio as the same interferrance occurs. (Episode 4.6) Helen presumably used a similar device. (Episode 2.2) Anomaly Containment It is possible to contain and even move anomalies using magnetic fields (e.g. by surrounding an anomaly with a "cage" constructed of magnetite), even when the anomaly is closed. This occured when the Ancient Egyptians discovered an anomaly. They put it in a magnetite cage called the Sun Cage as they believed it to be the sun. (Episode 3.1) Anomaly Locking It is also possible to temporarily prevent the passage of objects through an anomaly by the application of an electric current. Connor Temple uses this discovery to create a device which "locks" anomalies by "reversing their polarity". Repeating the process returns the anomaly to its natural unlocked state. A "locked" anomaly appears as a glowing sphere, in contrast to the "frozen explosion" an unlocked anomaly appears as. (Episode 3.4) However it will not be able to lock a fused anomaly because of the extra magnetic energies shared by the two anomalies. (Episode 4.7) Anomaly Prediction Near the end of his life, Nick Cutter constructed a physical 3D model which allows him to predict the location (though not the time) at which some anomalies can be expected to occur. This "matrix" appears to work, since it accurately predicts the abandoned house anomaly. (Episode 3.2) Howeverm Cutter is the only person who understands it. When Helen Cutter killed him, his death (as well as the fact that the model itself was damaged in the ARC explosions) effectively rendered it useless. (Episode 3.3) An Artefact was created in the future version of the ARC that can project a hologram of every anomaly and what points in time they connect. The entire map can be shown on a futuristic computer if the Artefact is plugged into it. The Artefact was of great interest both to Christine Johnson and Helen Cutter. Sarah Page at first theorised light activated the hologram, but later decided light would have to be shone at it from a specific angle. (Episode 3.6) However, Helen stole and later smashed the Artefact so the team would be unable to use the version they already had. (Episode 3.10) Anomaly Opening Presumably in the Second Future, a device able to manipulate anomalies was created as result of Cutter's and Connor's anomaly research. This included, locking, closing and opening anomalies but the Anomaly Opening Device remote had to be plugged into a giant touch enabled computer along with the Artefact. This way, the Matrix would be download into the device, thus making it possible for it to know where to open anomalies. It was revealed Helen Cutter had such a device. It is unlikely that she had been using it as early as when she appeared to rescue Claudia Brown out of nowhere and later disappears, since this technology existed only in the second future. (Episode 1.5) However, it seems anomalies couldn't be opened to any place or time, as Helen needed to search around the campsite to find a place she could open one for the charging Embolotherium, (Episode 3.9), and also as she needed to go to the Late Cretaceous where she could then go through a "natural" anomaly to Site 333. Although the 333 Anomaly closed, the remote was dropped in the Cretaceous. It's possible that Helen had a second remote, since she knew that she dropped the remote in the Cretaceous and did not take it with her. However, this may be because she was convinced that het actions at the 333 site would erase her from time, so she did not need it anymore. (Episode 3.10) After a year trapped in the Cretaceous, Connor found Helen's anomaly device allowing him to open an Cretaceous Forest - Present Anomaly so he and Abby could get home. He later accidently opened another one inside a Spinosaurus when he dropped it into it's mouth. (Episode 4.1) When finding an anomaly in a Seaside Cave. Connor Temple discovered that some form of illegally dumped cheaply produced Diesel Fuel had been affecting an anomaly, causing it to frequently close and reopen, Connor was even able to open and close the Anomaly by moving a jug of the fuel closer and away from the anomaly. This may indicate how the anomaly device Helen used could work. (Episode 4.5) Convergence When the North and South Pole switch places, the process causes tens of thousands of anomalies to open up all over the planet. If the anomalies are closed before the convergence is complete, the results can be unpredictable. Trivia It is possible that anomalies never close, and instead just become, as Helen Cutter said in Series 1, "Invisible to the naked eye". The invisible anomalies are locked, so no creatures can come through. They would also have to be intangible to go unnoticed by humanity for so long, and for the West London Hospital Anomaly to be able to open through the floor. If the anomalies are permanent, it would explain why one would still be trapped in the Sun Cage, even when the cage has been moved away from the anomaly site once it had closed, and how Helen's Anomaly Opener managed to open anomalies, but she had to travel to an anomaly located in the middle of the forest, not in an convenient place close to her. ﻿ Non-Canon In the future, anomalies have become a permanent fact of life and over thousands of years, the magnetic energy contained within these doorways in time has manifested a new species, known as Chaos, the anomaly creature. It is a magnetic life form that can consume those that pass through time. Life forms are not eaten, but disappear into a black hole, a void. This causes dramatic rips in history and can cause complete disappearance of a person, a species, an era - such as Claudia Brown. Other creatures such as a Future Predator, a Pteranodon, a Utahraptor and a Tyrannosaurus Rex get caught up in it. See Also *List of Anomaly Sites *Spaghetti Junction Behind the Scenes *The effect of the Anomalies had a minor change in Series 2. They seemed wider in Series 2 and 3, as in Series 1, they were quite thin. The effect when you go through them wasn't a flash in Series 2. The colour of the Anomalies changed from a white sort of colour, and the shard seem a bit bigger, as in Series 4 they shrink again, even smaller. *The effect for the anomaly appears to have had a minor change in Series 4. Now, the Anomalies appear more orange in color, rather than white. They also contain lots of small shards, instead of a smaller amount of large shards, and shrink when locked, instead of the shards connecting to make a sphere. *The effect for an anomaly starting to close also appears to have undergone some changes. In Episode 1.1 it is seen shimmering, in Episode 1.6 it grows briefly, and in Episode 3.10 it gradually shrinks. Category:Objects * Category:Featured Articles